JACKSON, Wyo. — The first week of March featured a significant shift in the weather pattern as the first stretch of spring-like warmth arrived. While temperatures start to trend upward more noticeably in an average March, the temperatures we saw in Jackson Hole during the first week of March 2020 were 3.9 degrees warmer than average. In other words, impressive warmth for this early in the year, which culminated in a high temperature of 53 degrees last Friday.
The past week was also dry across the region, with only one light snow event for the Tetons on Saturday night. While season to date snowfall remains well above average, settled snow depths are close to average across Northwest Wyoming.
More specifically, the snow depth at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s upper mountain is just a couple of inches above average, while the snow depth at mid-mountain has actually fallen a bit below average. The snow depth in the town of Jackson also decreased significantly over the past week due to warm temperatures and is now slightly below average as of March 8.
For the upcoming week, we can expect more active weather to start the week and more active weather to end the week, but in-between another multi-day stretch of dry and (mostly) sunny weather will occur.
A storm system moving into the area will result in on-and-off snow throughout the day Monday and into Monday night. The system is a bit disorganized, meaning snow amounts could be highly variable across the region, but in general, the Tetons should pick up 3-7 inches of new snow through Tuesday morning.
The Jackson Hole Valley is picking up some light accumulations on Monday morning but will see minimal accumulations during the remainder of the day as temperatures warm up into the upper 30s. On Monday night, the valley could pick up anywhere from a trace to 2 inches.
Some light snow showers could linger into mid-morning Tuesday, but otherwise, Tuesday through Friday is looking dry with mostly sunny skies and temperatures running near to slightly above average with highs in the 40s each day. Wednesday will be the warmest day ahead of a cold front that will cool temperatures off a bit on Thursday and Friday.
There is an outside chance we could see some mountain flurries ahead of the front late Wednesday or early Thursday, but minimal if any accumulations are expected.
The weekend is looking more interesting as a slow-moving trough of low pressure works its way into the Northwest U.S., and eventually meanders east toward the Rockies.
There is plenty of uncertainty on what this storm might do for Jackson Hole given it is almost a week away, but for now, we should expect to see increasing precipitation chances starting on Saturday and continuing into Sunday, with perhaps an active pattern to follow into early next week as well.
This looks to be a relatively warm system, meaning the valley could see periods of rain or a rain/snow mix during the afternoons. If this storm system comes together well for Jackson Hole (and that is still a big “if” at this stage), then snow totals at the higher elevations could add up nicely for skiers and snowboarders over the course of a few days.
Here is a look at the 7-day temperature forecast for the Jackson Hole Valley.
Be sure to follow our Daily Weather Reports for new weather updates each morning from Monday through Friday.
Alan Smith, Meteorologist
